Kern Pharma Mobilises Its Sales Force

Wireless data access

In order to gain access to an increasingly competitive market where the efficiency and mobility of a sales force are imperative, Kern Pharma chose to replace its existing customer relationship management programme with an efficient solution that takes advantage of the latest wireless and mobile technologies.

In 2005, the Spain-based international pharmaceuticals company developed and implemented KernMobile (KM), in collaboration with CSC. In addition to sales force cycle efficiency gains, Kern Pharma’s image as a modern company has been enhanced. “KernMobile has become a competitive advantage for Kern Pharma. In mobilizing our sales force with CSC, we provide a better client service and have improved our results,” says Albert Almajano, IT project and technology manager for Kern Pharma.

Out with the old, in with the new
Since 2002, Kern Pharma, of the Indukern group, had been using Titanium, a Visual Basic-based sales force automation solution. Titanium was not a portable application and was exclusively designed for Palm m515 devices. Sales people were limited to once-a-day data synchronisation. The software synchronised through a modem to a Lotus Notes database, which was synchronised with an Oracle database, creating some data redundancy. Titanium maintenance was also complicated and costly.

The server and client modules of the new KernMobile solution are based on open standards, including Java (JME and JEE), XML and GPRS, allowing Kern Pharma to be hardware and software independent. Kern Pharma, if it chooses, can switch from its current hardware platform (PalmOne/Palm OS 5.4.5) to another one (e.g., PocketPC, Symbian, Nokia Series 60 smartphone) without modifications to the infrastructure and software.

JME is the most ubiquitous application platform for mobile devices across the globe, providing a robust, flexible environment for applications running on a broad range of embedded devices, such as mobile phones and PDAs. KernMobile is the first client project in which CSC Spain applied the JME platform.

Sales cycle efficiency
KernMobile helps improve sales by providing important commercial information, such as product availability, promotions and prices. Users can ascertain the status of an order from the moment it is sent through KM view. The KM methodology also provides a user-friendly interface, allows self installation by the user and has a version updating system.

Connectivity issues are addressed by balancing online and local work. Only essential data is synchronised for the management of orders. In addition, the tool is adaptable to any back-end system, such as SAP R/3, Oracle ERPs and direct database access like SQL Server. KM sends an HTTP request, and the device manages the connectivity. Kern Pharma’s intranet manages all data acquired through KM. Each sales person can now be connected to Kern’s systems on a 24x7 basis, providing sales cycle efficiency.
While Kern Pharma initially chose the Palm Treo 650, which is restricted to GPRS connection, they can change to G3 devices in the future without having to change source code or infrastructure.

Increased sales
KernMobile went live in November 2005 and is currently used by about 70 locations throughout Spain. Sales increases of 6 percent in 2005 and 20 percent in 2006 have resulted.

“One of the main challenges was to replace the existing system without sales losses,” says KernPharma’s Almajano. “Thanks to CSC’s efficiency, we could do it in record time. An order sent through Kern Mobile could be delivered in a few hours.” Since deploying KM, Kern Pharma has cut its average delivery time by 24 hours.

Since its initial deployment, KernMobile has been upgraded, and the company recently rolled out a new application for the management of expenses and marketing investments.

Contact:
Montserrat Martinez-Zacarias